"I don't mind straight people, as long as
they don't act straight in public."

-Dennis Rodman

The word "straight" has been adopted as a
slang term used to refer to a "heterosexual
person" or to "heterosexual orientation."
In this context, a "straight" person is a
heterosexual person or someone having a sexual
orientation to persons of the opposite sex
or someone who is attracted to persons of the
opposite sex. Otherwise, the word
"straight" has many definitions and
meanings.

According to the Urban
dictionary, the term "straight"
can be used to describe a person
who does not participate in
"dangerous" activity such as
drugs, alcohol, sex or criminal
activity. A good girl. A good
guy.

Traditionally the word
"straight" referenced the
quality of an object possessing
no bends, curves, or twists.
Today the word "straight" refers
to myriad categories including
heterosexuality, commonality of
opinion, earnest communication,
and level of comprehension.

There are multiple traditional
meanings for the word,
"straight:"
--Without a bend or curve,
evenly formed or set, not
crooked
--Frank, honest, upright,
correct
--In proper order
--Without interruption or break,
continuous, in an unbroken
series

--Without reservations or
exceptions
--Unmixed, undiluted, unmodified
(i.e. alcoholic drinks)
--Showing no emotion or humor,
serious rather than comic,
natural rather than eccentric

There are multiple slang
meanings for the word,
"straight:"
--Term used in agreement,
approval
--Term used to denote the
validity of a statement or claim
--Term used to describe a manner
of frank communication (i.e.
straight talk)
--Term used to determine level
of understanding, agreement, or
otherwise mutual understanding
and agreement

--Term used to qualify one's
sexual orientation

Heterosexual
According to the Urban
Dictionary, a heterosexual is a
person who is attracted to
persons of the opposite gender
or a person who loves people of the
opposite sex. Heterosexuality is
the most common sexual
orientation in the world, but by
no means "normal". It is simply
more common than some variations
of human sexuality. Only tiny
minorities are exclusively
heterosexual or exclusively
homosexual (somewhere between 2
to 5% each). Most are
somewhere in between those two
extremes. Heterosexuals are
people that are romantically and
sexually attracted to the
opposite gender. So females are
attracted to males and males are
attracted to females.

According to Wikipedia,
heterosexuality is romantic
attraction, sexual attraction or
sexual behavior between persons
of the opposite sex or gender.
As a sexual orientation,
heterosexuality is an enduring
pattern of emotional, romantic,
and/or sexual attractions to
persons of the opposite sex. It
also refers to a person's sense
of identity based on those
attractions, related behaviors,
and membership in a community of
others who share those
attractions. Along with
bisexuality and homosexuality,
heterosexuality is one of the
three main categories of sexual
orientation within the
heterosexual–homosexual
continuum. The term heterosexual
or heterosexuality is usually
applied to humans, but
heterosexual behavior is
observed in all mammals and in
other animals.

What it means to be straight?
Straight certainly means
“exclusively attracted to the
opposite sex.” Thus, a
“straight” woman is attracted
only to men and never to women.
And a "straight" man is
attracted only to women and
never to men.
Heterosexuality is romantic
attraction, sexual attraction or
sexual behavior between persons
of the opposite sex or gender.
Someone who is heterosexual is
commonly referred to as
straight.

Slang terms for heterosexuals
include "straight," "vanilla,"
and "breeders."

Heterosexual - A clinical term
used to describe a person
characterized by a tendency to
direct sexual desire and
affection toward persons of the
opposite sex. A person who
engages in sexual intercourse
with individuals of the opposite
sex.

Het / Hetero - Slang terms,
shorthand for heterosexual.

Straight - A slang term
referring to a person who is a
heterosexual person, someone
having a sexual orientation to
persons of the opposite sex,
someone who is attracted to
persons of the opposite sex.

Cisgender -
A term referring to a person who
is not transgender. It refers
to a person whose gender
identity and biological sex
assigned at birth are in
alignment.

Gender Normative/Gender Straight
– A term used to describe
someone whose gender
presentation, whether by nature
or by choice, aligns with
society’s gender-based
expectations.

Bromance/Bromantic - Two
heterosexual men displaying
affection for each other.

Ally -
A term used to refer to a person
who is typically straight or cis-identified
who demonstrates support and
respect for members of the LGBTQ
community. Allies are affirming
of and friendly to the LGBTQ
community without being a member
of the community.

Vanilla - A slang term used by
the BDSM community to refer to
non-kinky people and the
unadventurous and dull type of
sexual activity they engage
in. Traditionally, "vanilla" is
defined as something having no
special or extra features,
something that is ordinary or
standard, unexciting, or
conventional. Vanilla sex
refers to sex that involves no
twists or kinkiness, and no S&M.
No toys, fetish, or edgeplay.
Basically, plain regular sex.

Breeder - A slang term (often
derogatory) used by the
homosexual community to refer to
heterosexual couples, who have a
significantly higher risk of
contributing to the population
increase than homosexuals do.

Breeder

According
to the
Urban
Dictionary,
"breeder'
is a
slang
term
used by
some
childfree
people
for
those
who have
a child
and
might
have
many
more
after
that,
refuses
to
discipline
their
children,
thinks
the sun
rises
and sets
for
their
children,
looks
down
upon
people
who do
not have
children,
and are
in
general
very
selfish
and
greedy
when it
comes to
their
whims
and
those of
their
children,
especially
if they
can use
their
parenthood
status
or their
children
as an
excuse
to get
their
way.

Breeder
can be a
derogatory
term
used by
inner
city
dwellers
(of any
sexual
orientation)
to
define
inhabitants
of the
suburbs
who
subscribe
to and
are
enslaved
by their
desire
to
procreate.
Employed
as a
derogatory
term,
used by
homosexuals
to
describe
heterosexuals,
it
refers
to one
who
breeds
with
members
of the
opposite
sex. It
is drawn
from the
fact
that
while
homosexual
sex does
not lead
to
reproduction,
heterosexual
sex
can.
Use of
the term
carries
an
implicit
mocking
by
connotation
of
animal
husbandry.
A female
breeder
is
commonly
called a
moo, and
a male
breeder
a duh.

"What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it's curved like a road through mountains."

-Tennessee Williams / Streetcar Named Desire

"I think heterosexuality is a perversion of nature."

-Margaret Mead

"There is objective proof that homosexuality is more interesting than heterosexuality. It's that we know a considerable number of heterosexuals who would wish to become homosexuals. Whereas we know very few homosexuals who would really like to become heterosexuals."

-Michael Foucault

"Heterosexuality is not normal. It's just common."

-Dorothy Parker

"In itself, homosexuality is as limiting as heterosexuality. The ideal should be to be capable of loving a woman or a man, either one, any human being, without feeling fear, restraint, or obligation."

-Simone de Beauvoir

Etymology
and
History
of
Heterosexual

"Hetero" comes from the Greek word héteros, meaning "other party" or "another", used in science as a prefix meaning "different". The term "heterosexual" was first published in 1892 in C.G. Chaddock's translation of Krafft-Ebing's "Psychopathia Sexualis". The noun came into use from the early 1920s, but did not enter common use until the 1960s. The colloquial shortening "hetero" is attested from 1933. The abstract noun "heterosexuality" is first recorded in 1900. The word "heterosexual" was first listed in Merriam-Webster's New International Dictionary as a medical term for "morbid sexual passion for one of the opposite sex." However, in 1934 in their Second Edition Unabridged it is defined as a "manifestation of sexual passion for one of the opposite sex or normal sexuality." The adjective "heterosexual" is used for intimate relationships or sexual relations between male and female.

The current use of the term heterosexual has its roots in the broader 19th century tradition of personality taxonomy. It continues to influence the development of the modern concept of sexual orientation, and can be used to describe individuals' sexual orientation, sexual history, or self-identification. Some reject the term "heterosexual" as the word only refers to one's sexual behavior and does not refer to non-sexual romantic feelings. The term "heterosexual" is suggested to have come into use as a neologism after, and opposite to the word "homosexual" by Karl Maria Kertbeny in 1868. In LGBTQ slang, the term "breeder" has been used as a denigrating phrase to deride heterosexuals.

The word can be informally shortened to "hetero". The term "straight" originated as a mid-20th century gay slang term for heterosexuals, ultimately coming from the phrase "to go straight" (as in "straight and narrow"), or to stop engaging in homosexual sex. One of the first uses of the word in this way was in 1941 by author G. W. Henry. Henry's book concerned conversations with homosexual males and used this term in connection with the reference to ex-gays. It currently simply is a colloquial term for "heterosexual" having, like many words, changed in primary meaning over time. Some object to usage of the term "straight" because it implies that non-heteros are crooked.

Conventional sex, or vanilla sex, is sexual behavior that is within the range of normality for a culture or subculture, and typically involves sex which does not include elements of BDSM, kink, or fetishism. When looking at conventional sex with disdain, it may be described as unadventurous or dull.

What is regarded as conventional sex depends on cultural and sub cultural norms. Among heterosexual couples in the Western world, for example, conventional sex often refers to sexual intercourse in the missionary position. It can also describe penetrative sex which does not have any element of BDSM, kink or fetish.

The British Medical Journal regards conventional sex between homosexual couples as "sex that does not extend beyond affection, mutual masturbation, and oral and anal sex." In addition to mutual masturbation, penetrative sexual activity among same-sex pairings is contrasted by non-insertive acts such as intercrural sex, frottage, and tribadism, although tribadism has been cited as a common but rarely discussed sexual practice among lesbians.